Circadian clock protein Rev-erbα regulates neuroinflammation

Rev-erbα deletion caused spontaneous microglial activation and increased proinflammatory transcripts in the hippocampus.

• Circadian dysfunction is linked to neuroinflammation, but the role of the core clock in this process is not well understood.
• Time-of-day variations in microglial activity were observed in the hippocampus, disrupted in mice lacking Rev-erbα.
• Deletion of Rev-erbα led to increased expression of inflammatory markers and secondary astrogliosis.
• Transcriptomic analysis indicated an inflammatory profile in the hippocampus of Rev-erbα-deficient mice, with hints of dysregulated NF-κB signaling.
• In vitro studies showed that Rev-erbα-deficient microglia had heightened inflammatory characteristics and greater NF-κB activation.
• Pharmacological activation of Rev-erbα reduced neuroinflammatory responses, suggesting a potential therapeutic target.

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